Archive for the tag “5 Toasts”

This saison made with brettanomyces and “fermented in oak tanks” pours a pale, lemonade yellow with a fluffy, mid-sized ivory head. Mosaic Saison offers a lovely nose that blends the funkiness of the farmhouse with the zest of a hop field – lemons, grapefruit peel, wild yeast, grass, and hay all show up, indicating tart and refreshing flavors ahead. The first swallow is all that and more – with the barnyard funk, cracker-y Mosaic hops, and abundant but not overpowering citrus, it tastes like your favorite saison mixed with your favorite pale ale, with all of it cohered and given shape by the rich, oaky notes. Smooth, delicious, and complex, this outstanding beer has all the makings of a hot weather habit-former, and more than holds its own against beloved Anchorage staples like Bitter Monk.

This super-sized double IPA from Mikkeller pours a cloudy butterscotch color with a tight, dirty white head and some flecks of yeast floating on the surface. It has a super-strong nose of boozy citrus, mostly oranges and tangerines, along with some lemon and wood notes. The first swallow is a wallop, with butterscotch, hard alcohol, and kindling wood most notably emerging, but there is also a grass and pine bitterness on the finish. Double Eye PA goes through a number of flavor phases, and while 11 months in the cellar has not dulled the intensity, it does re-emerge from its slumber as more an intensely hopped blonde barley wine than an Imperial IPA. However, the complexity and masterful storytelling have not diminished, as everything from blonde caramel, crackers, citrus fruits, brown sugar, honey, and whiskey makes an appearance on the tongue.

SoCal Beercation Edition

13.0% ABVPurchased at Fathom Bistro, Bait and Tackle in San Diego ($7/10 oz. pour) and served in tulip glasses.

This collaboration between San Diego kingpins Stone, Fark.com founder Drew Curtis, and actor/homebrewer Wil Wheaton pours ebony with an enormous but quickly dissipating light brown head. Wood, fresh roasted nuts, cola, and black licorice greet you on the nose, along with a small dose of hard alcohol courtesy of the partial barrel-aging. The first swallow is a mind-bending mouthful – nuts, coffee, and chocolate on the front end melt into vanilla, wood, and bourbon flavors on the finish. Only a quarter of this sublime brew was barrel-aged, so you get bourbon notes without any residual alcohol heat. The lasting impression on the tongue is of nuts, almost certainly due to the addition of pecans. This is a flat-out brilliant beer – complex yet compulsively drinkable, with a relatively light mouthfeel. More coffee ground flavors come in as the beer warms, and the beer’s decadent breadiness gives it an overall impression of a boozy pecan pie chased by black licorice.

SoCal Beercation Edition

This Double IPA from San Diego-based Societe pours a completely clear straw yellow with a minimal white head. The Roustabout is a prototypically big SoCal DIPA with a prominent nose of hop flowers, pine, grass, hay, and some citrus zest, not unlike rolling in a country field. It offers an absolutely immaculate candied hop flavor on first swallow, followed by waves of grass and pine, and finishing with sweet biscuits and oily tree needles. There is a surprisingly light mouthfeel here for such a dank beer, and the hop flavors are absolutely brilliant, perhaps perfect. Societe has produced a beer that definitely takes the drinker on a journey, as myriad types of IPA tastes dance across the palette (even cracked pepper makes a cameo), never straying too far in any one direction.

Oosvleteren-based Belgian brewers De Struise produce this masterful 100 IBU “Royal Stout”, which pours a deep-space black with a tight, brown sugar head and a body that looks as thick as molasses. Black Albert’s beckoning nose offers heavy aromas like licorice, bark, and red wine barrels, but with some surprisingly bright floral and citrus notes, almost like African coffee. The taste is absolutely delicious – dark chocolate and citrus, as well some caramel and licorice – while the body is remarkably light and the aftertaste lingers pleasurably on the palette like great coffee. This beer is not particularly boozy considering the 13% ABV, instead offering a whirlwind of complexity, including touches of milk chocolate, orange, and red wine, in an utterly drinkable package.

This “Belgian ale brewed with spices” pours a prune-y dark brown with a medium-sized, brown sugar head, and an amazing nose of chocolate-covered raisins, caramel apples, and other dark fruits. On the tongue, chocolate and fruit flavors are balanced against perfectly understated spices on the finish, with a surprisingly light mouthfeel for a sweetness-forward 11-percenter. Plums, figs, apples, nuts, and caramel all make an appearance, and although the spices are difficult to discern due to their subtlety, I think detected ginger and a touch of cinnamon. Perfectly balanced with a remarkably crisp finish, Santa’s Little Helper 2012 is easily one of the best brews I have sampled this year.

This bourbon barrel-aged version of The Bruery’s Imperial Smoked Porter pours an incomprehensible black with a quickly settling, brown sugar-colored head. With its intoxicating nose of bourbon and slab bacon, Smoking Wood is quite possibly the best-smelling brew I have ever sniffed. It packs a walloping first swallow of whiskey, barrel wood, and delectable smoked and dried meats, up to and including prosciutto, salami, and pepperoni. Smoking Woodis rich and velvety but also immensely well-structured, a beer that seems almost specifically tailored to my “ultimate beer” mantra of “full flavors in perfect balance”. The jerky-like taste is given amazing body and complexity by the barrel-aging process – it’s zesty, rich, challenging, and inviting all at once. I will dream about this beer for a long time.

His Notes:

This barrel-aged sour blend from Norwegian brewer HaandBryggeriet(they also brew the sublime Hesjeol) pours a bright, peachy orange with a slight, bubbly, bone-white head and a fair amount of sediment. Sweet & Sour has a pungent but inviting nose of fermented grapes, citrus zest, sharp yeast, and tart berries. The beer’s sourness is initially disguised by the ripe orange and sweet melon flavors on the tongue, but it’s the lemon and Sour Patch pucker that dominates the back end. This absolutely delicious brew is an ideal introduction to sour beers for the uninitiated, but it’s also a remarkable refresher for hardcore fanatics.

His Notes:

This legit Belgian abbey beer pours slate brown with creamy, swirling highlights and a fizzy, cola-colored head. It offers up a beautiful nose of freshly pulled caramel and taffy, wood, and cooked cherries, but there are subtle changes with each new sniff. Trappistes Rochefort 10 is sweet and dusky on the palette, with more cooked berries, some toffee, and additional warm and chewy candies. There are licorice and raisin flavors as well, along with a certain Belgian barnyard quality. The texture and flavor profile are very desert-like, but unlike an imposing desert wine or port, this brilliant and highly drinkable beer hides its huge alcohol content with grace.

5 Toasts

Her Notes:

5 Toasts

10% ABV
Purchased at The Page in San Francisco ($4/pint) and poured into pint glasses.

His Notes:

Jack ‘n’ Jolly is a blend of previous versions ofDrake’s Jolly Rodger series aged in Jack Daniel’s bourbon barrels. It pours redwood brown with a minimal sandy head, and offers a very inviting aroma of whiskey, wood, and tropical fruits. The bourbon character comes through stronger with this brown/red ale than with a barrel-aged stout, with the alcohol burn softened into the coconut flavor of rum. Once again, Drake’s has brewed a masterpiece with a long-term impression on the palette and a mesmerizing mix of tastes – all in one swallow, it’s bitter, woody, fruity, roasted, toasted, and sweet.